PC Format South Africa closes down in May

01 April 2014

By Wesley Fick

Behold, the second-last-ever cover of PC Format Magazine. In an announcement on the magazine’s website, (and totally not an April fool’s joke) editor Garth Holden announced that the magazine’s local business would be shutting down after a record 206 issues and almost two decades of service to the South African public. Its a big loss for the country’s computer enthusiasts and leaves a gaping hole for geeks who prefer to read local opinions instead of the words of overseas hardware critics.

Full disclosure: I did a bit of freelance work as a copy editor for PC Format while Nicholas Boerma steered the ship and they are all really cool people. I was also a bit of an asshat towards them in a column I wrote in 2012. I’m still sorry that I did that.

In his announcement to fans, readers and the media, Holden announced that the May 2014 issue would be their last. Its not clear what will happen to the staff writers and employees of the magazine under the Panorama wing.

“Some of you might know that I was brought into PCF to turn things around, due to a downward spiral in readership and a bevy of complaint emails. It wasn’t easy work and it wasn’t always the most pleasant exercise talking to people who felt they had been snubbed or ignored in the past, making apologies for the behaviour of people I had never met.”

“While I did make progress, thanks to a redesign and fresh approach to the content in the magazine, the plummet in copy sales was stopped. It did sometimes feel like my hands were occupied with the task of keeping my fingers in leaky holes rather than achieving bigger plans, but sometimes there is only so much you can do with limited support.”

“Let me not dwell on this, as everything is still too raw to process correctly and I have seen too many defamation lawsuits flying around of late and I am so tired of red tape right now.”

In his column about the shutdown, Holden also thanks fans and readers of the magazine for their support over the years and acknowledges the roles played by the distributors and manufacturers who made opportunities possible for the magazine.

“To continue the naval imagery, the captain is going down with his ship. I am being retrenched, with April being the last month of my employ. While I will do my utmost best to stay in the industry, I know that there are many, many other people who are also trying to carve a section out for themselves. You will still find me floating around the internet, and hopefully at gaming events too. Sadly this is not something I can control, but I hope to see you all and hear from you again.”

Well, that’s sad. I bought PCF for years, both for the read and the DVD. “Ask Louis” is still the reason I tend to read tech support in other magazines, though none of them come close to his brevity and wit. And analogies. And metaphors. And insults. And…

And yet another local tech related mag falls victim to this new age. Been seeing loss of support from South Africans in almost every aspect of life. Just take rugby for instance, the stadiums these days are almost never full even if theres a high level international. You might even say that the digital age draggin the physical world to the trash bin. Sad days indeed.

deathgrind

rugby is gay.

Leonard Pretorius

K nerd go back to playing you’re wow.

Alex Rowley

hhmm… how healthy is the NAG magazine these days?

Miklós Szecsei

Pretty damn healthy.

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Wesley-Fick/184346154999538 Wesley Fick

Really? They have PILES of sweets in the office!

Alex Rowley

That’s good to hear

http://www.letsgethighandmarrygaypeople.com/ Gregory S. Balchin

“more than ten years”.

can you even count?
at 12 issues a year, 206 issues would make it 17 years old.

and there were years where it only had 11 issues, so it’s a bit older than that.

Squirly

Hate to break this to you man, but 17 years is, strictly speaking, more than 10 years.

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Wesley-Fick/184346154999538 Wesley Fick

^^ These men know their math.

http://www.letsgethighandmarrygaypeople.com/ Gregory S. Balchin

yeah and so are 50 and 999912304203942039 but it’s now how you use that specific turn of phrase

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Wesley-Fick/184346154999538 Wesley Fick

I changed it, how do you like it now?

Byron Will-Noel

It will be sad to see PC Format go, but I stopped reading years ago when Tamsin Mackay was the editor.

http://www.letsgethighandmarrygaypeople.com/ Gregory S. Balchin

mars and that other guy were okay. used to see him at mayhem lans and shit.

Byron Will-Noel

Ja I think the mag lost a lot when Mars left.

Alec van Zyl

Well atleast we have NAG to fall back on but as a PC enthusiast PCformat really did it the best. No offense NAG is great in terms of community and gaming related topics but PCF will always leave a small hole in my heart

XceL

Sad times :'(

Twicker

i think anyone that ever owned a computer in RSA bought this magazine one time or another, truly sad news – NAG should buy them out …..

Me

I’m glad its gone. I used buy every copy in the late nineties and early 00’s. I read each copy cover to cover. Stopped reading for a few years and picked up a copy in 2009(I think) and it was terrible. Cocky, arrogant editor and content was slacking. I promised myself never to buy PCFormat again.

Slogo

I Really wish they didn’t close they have a lotta info on the latest tech NAG is mostly only about gaming with very little info on hardware:(